Dementia Praecox
by Verboten Byacolate
Summary: Under the influence of an unidentified genjutsu, Hinata has been diagnosed with insanity. By order of Hokage, she now has a less than prepared supervisor: Uzumaki Naruto. He's about to brush up on psychology AND babysitting. NaruHina, side KibaHina


A/N; If this is weird for you to read, let me assure you, it was ever weirder to write. But please travel this journey with me-- I'm a little scared to go it myself.  
Disclaimer; All characters and setting is are belong to The Man (Kiiiishiiiiii).

**Dementia Praecox**

Though she was not in his sight, or even in the general vicinity, she was the first thing he was aware of entering the village.

"Did you hear? She's had another fit."

"Poor girl."

"Poor girl? Her poor father is the one who should have sympathy! Think of the nonsense he has to put up with, a daughter like that!"

"It isn't her fault she's insane."

Naruto ignored the villagers' comments and made his way north. He was back early from his mission to be placed in a seperate one. The seventeen-year-old boy had been confused when a harried-looking Neji had appeared the previous night while Team 7 was setting up camp, pulling Naruto aside and attempting to convince the blond to return to Konoha.

_"Hokage-sama sent me,"_ he had said, ignoring the looks Kakashi and Sakura gave Naruto. _"You must come quickly. Here." Neji handed Naruto a scroll. "The briefing is in here. You... To hell with it." Neji grabbed Naruto by the shoulders, surprising the boy. "Please come back. We've tried everything... we don't know what happened... but we think you can help. Please." The proud Hyuuga hung his head. "You owe it to her, do you not?"_

Naruto clenched the scroll in his fist for the thousandth time in the past twelve hours, the last re-re-re-read sentence crossing his mind.

**... in conclusion, Uzumaki Naruto is to supervise the victim, Hyuuga Hinata, who may inflict unwarranted harm upon civilians.**

Hinata. Hinata may inflict... Hinata might hurt people for no reason. Hinata? Nothing made sense, though he'd read the scroll more times than he tightened his vice grip around it.

Neji glanced at him when they reached the gate of the Hyuuga compound.

"I know I haven't told you much," the older Jounin said, "but I will now." Neji's eyes were shadowed, cast upon the house. "She has gone insane, that much you know." Naruto nodded silently. "We think it's a genjutsu. You know that too." Another nod. "But she will not talk to us, and we cannot contain her. Hinata-sama is... dangerous. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I don't get why... why _me_?" Naruto didn't meet Neji's eyes. Instead, he gazed through the gate at the picturesque Hyuuga grounds beyond. Did the madness of an innocent girl truly lie beneath all of this?

"I... am not entirely sure myself." Neji's brow furrowed. "It was Aburame-san that suggested it. He and Inuzuka have been to see her plenty of times, and Aburame said that maybe it was best if you watch over her." The Hyuuga then did force Naruto to look at him. "Naruto. This is serious. We'll need time and study to learn how to break the genjutsu. The younger and elderly members of the clan have been relocated for the time being, with the more capable adults looking after them, so only a few of us remain. She does not react to them... _kindly_." He sighed. "She barely tolerates me. It will mostly be you and I watching her, but I do this on my own time. Hokage-sama has given me a lot of slack for this, but soon I'll be needed elsewhere. Then it will be up to you."

"Dammit! It's happening too fast!"

"Do you think these things will happen at your leisure?" Neji snapped back. His troubled gaze had turned to irritation. "It happened faster for us. She just came back from a mission late two weeks ago, telling her old nursemaid that she didn't feel well, and around three in the morning everyone was woken up by..." Neji slowed to a stop and caught himself. His eyes were once again shadowed and worried. "Naruto. She's normal sometimes. But you never know when the jutsu becomes active again. She screams. She claws at her own arms and screams. She throws things. She convulses. It's... horrible."

Naruto shivered.

".. But the Aburame said you could help."

And then he saw it. The tiny glimmer of hope in Neji's eyes.

"He said that you might be the cure. Either to break the jutsu or otherwise, I'm not sure, but that's what he said. And from what I've heard, the Aburame clan is not one to be mistrusted. So please..."

Naruto swallowed. He wasn't sure he was prepared. The Hyuuga could not satiate her... what made them think _he_ could? He was nothing special, and certainly, Hinata had done more for him than he'd ever done for her.

But still. There was a girl--his friend-- in pain, and he was considered their only hope. He would have to try. Naruto nodded.

"I'll do my best, Neji. So let's get Hinata better."

* * *

"Hinata?"

A small white form curled up beneath a barred window in which a breeze slipped through. Navy hair fell from a tiny, thin shoulder as its owner looked at the doorway. Milky eyes registered for a moment before the girl smiled.

"Hello, Kiba-kun. How are you?"

The boy breathed a sigh of relief before he entered the white room, closing the door behind him. Kiba approached his teammate, crouching before her.

"Naruto's here," he said the very instance she murmured, "Is Shino-kun here?"

"Not today," he said apologetically, noticing that a telltale pink was kissing her cheeks.

"O-oh. I see."

Kiba regarded her silently. It had only been two weeks since they had come back from the mission, and only fourteen hours after that that he was alerted of Hinata's first "attack." Only two weeks, and yet, it had seemed like a year. Her face was showing signs of weight loss already, a little thinner here and there. He wouldn't think it would show this early, but the dark shadows under her eyes only served to punctuate the loss.

It would normally be expected that her appearance would falter under the circumstances, but the opposite happened to Hinata. She changed clothes at least four times a day, indecisive about what would be okay for her to bleed on, what would be all right to rip in case of an attack. That, and sitting alone in a quiet room all day gave her little to do, so she'd picked up a nervous habit in the form of a hairbrush. Waves of navy shined like he'd never seen before. Its texture looked so alluring.

The Inuzuka reached out his hand absentmindly, slowly, and touched a lock. She blinked up at him with eyes that seemed white, but when compared to the rest of the room, were tainted with a pure lavender.

_Why am I only noticing now, when I've been with her so long?_

"Hinata, I..."

"Kiba-kun, why is Naruto-kun here?"

So much for confessions. Kiba sighed, letting go of the silken strand.

"Shino sent for him. He thought you might want to see the punk." Kiba shrugged casually, even though it really bugged him. Didn't Shino think that they were enough for her? She didn't need that damn Naruto.

"Ah."

It was silent once more, and Kiba sighed for the third time. Did Hinata think that he and Shino weren't enough, either?

"Hinata." She blinked. "No matter what, we'll always be here, you know?" He gave her a look. "No matter what. Say the word, and I'm here."

She mulled over his words momentarily before smiling.

"Thank you, Kiba-kun. Now," she straightened and began to stand (a motion to which he immediately scrambled up and pulled her along as well), "I think I will find something to wear proper for greeting Naruto-kun. He is about to be put through, if you'll excuse me... living hell."

_Not as badly as you, Hinata_, Kiba thought as he was lightly pushed through the white door and into the hallway.

-

tbc

-

**I don't know if this inspiration thing is working out for me too good. I mean, come on; Hinata? Insane?? Gah.  
Sometimes I hate myself.  
Please review so I won't have to commit seppuku.  
-Bya  
(KibaHina in a NaruHina fanfic? Oh yes. I went there. I went there, and _I bought property_.)**


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